We Come from Far, Far Away

Inside the tent there is a smaller tent, and inside the smaller tent there is a boy. He has travelled a long way. He has travelled mostly on his own. He can show you the things he has brought with him, he can tell you the reasons for his journey, he can tell about the route he has taken, he can’t tell you where the story ends…

Photo Frame

This is a performance for younger audiences about refugees and refuge.

We Come from Far, Far Away is a performance for younger audiences exploring the stories of refugees. We have developed the show working with Hvalstad Transittmottak, the Reception Centre in Norway, a centre that provides a first reception point for young refugees (aged 13 – 18) who have arrived alone to claim asylum in Norway. Most were from Afghanistan and Syria and had made the journey to Norway alone. Their stories are difficult and amazing. They were full of energy and life and hope for the future. In this performance we have tried to tell one of them in a simple and intimate way using live music, story telling, shadow puppets and objects in an immersive setting.

“I had a tent, I bought it in a supermarket in Greece, there was a sign which I could not read apart from that it said € 100 which was crossed out and then was written €40 in red! That’s called a bargain – so I took my money and I stood in the line. I tried to look normal. When I got to the desk I gave the man my money, he put it in the till and then he asked me something, I smiled, and then he started to shout at me, he shouted and shouted, so I took my phone out and stated to film him…..”

After each performance there is a short post-show discussion. The performance is playing indoors in an intimate space of an Mongolian yurt.

We premiered the performance in November 2016 as part of the Showbox festival in Oslo, Norway. In 2017 we toured in Norway, in the UK and in Europe including the Dublin Theatre Festival and Baboro International Children’s festival in Ireland in October 2017.